Apparatus and method for receiving emergency alert signals

ABSTRACT

An apparatus such as a television signal receiver provides an emergency alert function, according to an exemplary embodiment, the television signal receiver includes a first tuner for tuning a first channel when the television signal receiver is in an on mode. A second tuner is provided for tuning a second channel when the television signal receiver is in the on mode and an off/standby mode. The second channel provides emergency alert signals capable of activating the emergency alert function.

This application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 365 ofInternational Application PCT/US03/32600, filed Oct. 15, 2003, which waspublished in accordance with PCT Article 21(2) on Jun. 3, 2004 inEnglish and which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication No. 60/426,641, filed Nov. 15, 2002; U.S. provisional patentapplication No. 60/426,642, filed Nov. 15, 2002 and U.S. provisionalpatent application No. 60/426,643, filed Nov. 15, 2002.

The present invention generally relates to apparatuses such as atelevision signal receiver and/or modem which provide an emergency alertfunction, and more particularly, to techniques for receiving emergencyalert signals using such apparatuses.

Emergency events such as severe weather, natural disasters, fires, civilemergencies, war acts, toxic chemical spills, radiation leaks, or othersuch conditions can be devastating to unprepared individuals. Withweather-related emergencies, authorities such as the National WeatherService (NWS) and the National Oceanographic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA) are generally able to detect severe weatherconditions prior to the general public. Through the use of modem weatherdetection devices, such as Doppler radar and weather satellites, the NWSand NOAA are able to issue early warnings of severe weather conditionswhich have saved many lives. However, for such warnings to be effective,they must be communicated to their intended recipients.

With certain apparatuses such as television signal receivers, warningsfor emergency events may be provided when the receiver is tuned to aparticular channel which provides such warnings. For example, in anygiven geographical area, certain local channels may provide informationregarding emergency events affecting that geographical area. However, ifa viewer is not tuned to such a local channel when an emergency eventoccurs, the viewer may not be notified of the emergency event, and maytherefore be placed in a potentially dangerous situation.

Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for providingnotification of emergency events which avoids the foregoing problems,and thereby increases the likelihood that users are promptly notified ofemergency events. The present invention addresses these and otherissues.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a televisionsignal receiver having an emergency alert function is disclosed.According to an exemplary embodiment, the television signal receivercomprises first tuning means for tuning a first channel when thetelevision signal receiver is in an on mode. Second tuning means areprovided for tuning a second channel when the television signal receiveris in the on mode and an off/standby mode. The second channel providesemergency alert signals capable of activating the emergency alertfunction.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method forcontrolling a television signal receiver having an emergency alertfunction is disclosed. According to an exemplary embodiment, the methodcomprises steps of enabling a first tuner to tune a first channel whenthe television signal receiver is in an on mode, and enabling a secondtuner to tune a second channel when the television signal receiver is inthe on mode and an off/standby mode. The second channel providesemergency alert signals capable of activating the emergency alertfunction.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, amodem apparatus having an emergency alert function is disclosed.According to an exemplary embodiment, the modem apparatus comprises amodulator operative to modulate upstream signals provided to a network.A demodulator is operative to demodulate downstream signals providedfrom the network. The downstream signals include emergency alert signalscapable of activating the emergency alert function. An alert system isoperative to provide an alert output when the emergency alert functionis activated.

The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention,and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and theinvention will be better understood by reference to the followingdescription of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary environment suitable for implementing the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a television signal receiver according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating steps according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a modem apparatus according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is another diagram of a modem apparatus according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

The exemplifications set out herein illustrate preferred embodiments ofthe invention, and such exemplifications are not to be construed aslimiting the scope of the invention in any manner.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, anexemplary environment 100 suitable for implementing the presentinvention is shown. In FIG. 1, environment 100 comprises signaltransmission means such as signal transmission source 10, dwelling meanssuch as dwelling units 15 (i.e., 1, 2, 3 . . . N, where N may be anypositive integer), and signal receiving means such as television signalreceivers 20.

In FIG. 1, dwelling units 15 may represent residences, businesses and/orother dwelling places located within a particular geographical area,such as but not limited to, a particular continent, country, region,state, area code, zip code, city, county, municipality, subdivision,and/or other definable geographical area. According to an exemplaryembodiment, each of the dwelling units 15 is equipped with at least onetelevision signal receiver 20 having an emergency alert function.According to the present invention, the emergency alert function enablestelevision signal receiver 20 to receive emergency alert signals andprovide one or more alert outputs to notify individuals of an emergencyevent.

As will be discussed later herein, television signal receiver 20 is alsocapable of, among other things, receiving emergency alert signals from aseparate channel which ensures that emergency events can be detectedduring all operational modes of television signal receiver 20, namely anon mode and an off/standby mode. According to an exemplary embodiment,the on mode is an operational mode where television signal receiver 20is turned on (i.e., providing audio and/or video outputs), while theoff/standby mode is an operational mode where television signal receiver20 is turned off (i.e., no audio and/or video outputs) but stillreceives electrical power. Television signal receiver 20 may for examplebe switched from the off/standby mode to the on mode responsive to auser input.

According to an exemplary embodiment, signal transmission source 10transmits signals including emergency alert signals which may bereceived by each television signal receiver 20. The emergency alertsignals may be provided from an authority such as the NWS, or otherauthorities such as governmental entities or the like. Signaltransmission source 10 may transmit the emergency alert signals in theiroriginal form as provided by the authority, or may append digital datarepresentative of the emergency alert signals to other data, or maymodify the emergency alert signals in some manner appropriate for itsspecific transmission format needs. In response to the emergency alertsignals, each television signal receiver 20 may provide one or morealert outputs to thereby notify individuals of the emergency event.Signal transmission source 10 may transmit such emergency alert signalsto television signal receivers 20 via any wired or wireless link suchas, terrestrial, cable, satellite, fiber optic, digital subscriber line(DSL), and/or any other type of broadcast and/or multicast means.

Referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment oftelevision signal receiver 20 of FIG. 1 is shown. In FIG. 2, televisionsignal receiver 20 comprises signal receiving means such as signalreceiving element 21, signal splitting means such as signal splitter 22,first tuning means such as tuner 23, first demodulation means such asdemodulator 24, second tuning means such as second tuner 25, seconddemodulation means such as demodulator 26, decoding means such asdecoder 27, processing means and memory means such as processor andmemory 28, audio amplification means such as audio amplifier 29, audiooutput means such as speaker 30, video processing means such as videoprocessor 31, and visual output means such as display 32. Some of theforegoing elements may for example be embodied using integrated circuits(ICs). For clarity of description, certain conventional elements oftelevision signal receiver 20 including control signals may not be shownin FIG. 2. According to an exemplary embodiment, television signalreceiver 20 may receive and process signals in analog and/or digitalformats.

Signal receiving element 21 is operative to receive signals includingaudio, video and/or emergency alert signals from signal sources, such assignal transmission source 10 in FIG. 1. According to an exemplaryembodiment, emergency alert signals may be received as separate datapackets in a digital transmission system. According to another exemplaryembodiment, received signals may include digitally encoded emergencyalert signals. Signal receiving element 21 may be embodied as any signalreceiving element such as an antenna, input terminal or other element.

Signal splitter 22 is operative to split the signals provided fromsignal receiving element 21 into first and second frequency channels.According to an exemplary embodiment, television signal receiver 20 mayinclude a picture-in-picture (PIP) function wherein the first channelincludes audio and/or video signals for a main picture, and the secondchannel includes audio and/or video signals for the PIP function.

Tuner 23 is operative to tune signals including audio, video and/oremergency alert signals in the first channel when television signalreceiver 20 is in the on mode. Accordingly, tuner 23 may tune signalsfor the main picture of television signal receiver 20. Demodulator 24 isoperative to demodulate signals provided from tuner 23, and maydemodulate signals in analog and/or digital transmission formats.

Tuner 25 is operative to tune signals including audio, video and/oremergency alert signals in the second channel when television signalreceiver 20 is in the on mode. Accordingly, tuner 25 may tune signalsfor the PIP function of television signal receiver 20. Additionally,tuner 25 is operative to tune signals including emergency alert signalsin the second channel when television signal receiver 20 is in theoff/standby mode. In this manner, tuner 25 enables television signalreceiver 20 to receive emergency alert signals in both the on mode, andthe off/standby mode. Demodulator 26 is operative to demodulate signalsprovided from tuner 25, and may demodulate signals in analog and/ordigital transmission formats.

Decoder 27 is operative to decode signals including audio, video and/oremergency alert signals provided from demodulators 24 and 26. Accordingto an exemplary embodiment, decoder 27 decodes digital data whichrepresents emergency alert signals indicating an emergency event.Decoder 27 may also perform other decoding functions, such as decodingdata which represents emergency alert signals included in the verticalblanking interval (VBI) of an analog television signal. According to anexemplary embodiment, the emergency alert signals include datacomprising Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) data associated withthe emergency event. SAME data comprises a digital code representinginformation such as the specific geographical area affected by theemergency event, the type of emergency event (e.g., tornado watch,radiological hazard warning, civil emergency, etc.), and the expirationtime of the event alert. SAME data is used by the NWS and otherauthorities to improve the specificity of emergency alerts and todecrease the frequency of false alerts. Other data and information mayalso be included in the emergency alert signals according to the presentinvention.

Processor and memory 28 are operative to perform various processing,control, and data storage functions of television signal receiver 20.According to an exemplary embodiment, processor 28 is operative toprocess the audio and video signals provided from decoder 27, and mayfor example perform analog processing, such as National TelevisionStandards Committee (NTSC) signal processing and/or digital processing,such as Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) processing.

Processor 27 is also operative to receive the emergency alert signalsfrom decoder 27 and determine whether the emergency alert function oftelevision signal receiver 20 is activated based on data included in theemergency alert signals. According to an exemplary embodiment, processor28 compares data in the emergency alert signals to user setup datastored in memory 28 to determine whether the emergency alert function isactivated. As will be described later herein, a setup process for theemergency alert function of television signal receiver 20 allows a userto select items such as an applicable geographical area(s), and type(s)of emergency events (e.g., tornado watch, radiological hazard warning,civil emergency, etc.) which activate the emergency alert function.

When the emergency alert function of television signal receiver 20 isactivated, processor 28 outputs one or more control signals which enablevarious operations. According to an exemplary embodiment, such controlsignals enable one or more alert outputs (e.g., aural and/or visual) tothereby notify individuals of the emergency event. Such control signalsmay also enable other operations of television signal receiver 20, suchas causing it to be switched from the off/standby mode to the on mode.Further details regarding these aspects of the present invention will beprovided later herein.

Audio amplifier 29 is operative to amplify the audio signals providedfrom processor 28. Such audio signals may for example represent audiocontent such as an NWS audio message, a warning alert tone and/or otheraudio content. Speaker 30 is operative to aurally output the amplifiedaudio signals provided from audio amplifier 29.

Video processor 31 is operative to process the video signals providedfrom processor 28. According to an exemplary embodiment, such videosignals may include embedded messages such as NWS text messages and/orother messages that provide details regarding emergency events. Videoprocessor 31 may include closed caption circuitry which enables closedcaption displays. Display 32 is operative to provide visual displayscorresponding to processed signals provided from video processor 31.According to an exemplary embodiment, display 32 may provide visualdisplays including the aforementioned messages that provide detailsregarding emergency events.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a flowchart 300 illustrating exemplary stepsaccording to the present invention is shown. For purposes of example andexplanation, the steps of FIG. 3 will be described with reference totelevision signal receiver 20 of FIG. 2. The steps of FIG. 3 are merelyexemplary, and are not intended to limit the present invention in anymanner.

At step 301, a setup process for the emergency alert function oftelevision signal receiver 20 is performed. According to an exemplaryembodiment, a user performs this setup process by providing inputs totelevision signal receiver 20 (e.g., using a remote control device notshown) responsive to an on-screen menu displayed via display 32. Such anon-screen menu may for example be part of an electronic program guide(EPG) function of television signal receiver 20. According to anexemplary embodiment, the user may select at least the following itemsduring the setup process at step 301:

A. Enable/Disable—The user may select whether to enable or disable theemergency alert function.

B. Frequency Selection—The user may select the monitoring channel totune to in order to receive emergency alert signals. For example, theuser may select a terrestrial, cable, satellite or other channel whichwill be monitored for emergency alert signals. The selection of amonitoring channel may for example be facilitated through a frequencyscanning operation which scans various frequency channels to therebyidentify the monitoring channels that provide the highest signalstrength.

C. Geographical Areas—The user may select one or more geographical areasof interest. For example, the user may select a particular continent,country, region, state, area code, zip code, city, county, municipality,subdivision, and/or other definable geographical area. According to anexemplary embodiment, such geographical area(s) may be represented inmemory 28 by location data, such as one or more Federal InformationProcessing Standard (FIPS) location codes.

D. Event Types—The user may select one or more types of emergency eventswhich activate the emergency alert function. For example, the user maydesignate that events such as civil emergencies, radiological hazardwarnings, and/or tornado warnings activate the emergency alert function,but that events such as a thunderstorm watch does not, etc. The user mayalso select whether the conventional warning audio tone provided by theNWS and/or other alert mechanism activates the emergency alert function.According to the present invention, different severity or alert levels(e.g., statement, watch, warning, etc.) may represent different“events.” For example, a thunderstorm watch may be considered adifferent event from a thunderstorm warning.

E. Alert Outputs—The user may select one or more alert outputs to beprovided when the emergency alert function is activated. According to anexemplary embodiment, the user may select visual and/or aural outputs tobe provided for each type of emergency event that activates theemergency alert function. For example, the user may select to display avisual message (e.g., an NWS text message as a closed caption display)and/or tune television signal receiver 20 to a specific channel. Theuser may also for example select to aurally output a warning tone (e.g.,chime, siren, etc.) and/or an audio message (e.g., NWS audio message),and the desired volume of each. Moreover, the alert outputs may beselected on an event-by-event basis. Other types of alert outputs mayalso be provided according to the present invention.

According to the present invention, other menu selections may also beprovided at step 301 and/or some of the menu selections described abovemay be omitted. Data corresponding to the user's selections during thesetup process of step 301 is stored in memory 28.

At step 302, a determination is made by processor 28 as to whethertelevision signal receiver 20 is in the on mode. As previously indicatedherein, the on mode is an operational mode where television signalreceiver 20 is turned on (i.e., providing audio and/or video outputs),while the off/standby mode is an operational mode where televisionsignal receiver 20 is turned off (i.e., no audio and/or video outputs)but still receives electrical power. Television signal receiver 20 mayfor example be switched from the off/standby mode to the on moderesponsive to a user input.

If the determination at step 302 is positive, process flow advances tostep 303 where television signal receiver 20 monitors the first andsecond channels for emergency alert signals using tuners 23 and 25,respectively, under the control of processor 28. According to anexemplary embodiment, the first channel monitored by tuner 23 provides amain picture and may be selected by a user through inputs to televisionsignal receiver 20 as part of a normal channel selection process. Alsoaccording to this embodiment, the second channel monitored by tuner 25may be selected by the user during the setup process of step 301 (i.e.,item B). Since tuner 25 may enable a PIP function of television signalreceiver 20, the use of tuner 25 to monitor the second channel at step303 may be conditioned on the PIP function being turned off.Accordingly, assuming the PIP function is turned off and tuner 25 isavailable, tuners 23 and 25 monitor the first and second channels,respectively, at step 303 and one of the tuners 23 and 25 may therebyreceive incoming emergency alert signals.

If the determination at step 302 is negative, television signal receiver20 is deemed to be in the off/standby mode and process flow advances tostep 304 where tuner 25 monitors the second channel under the control ofprocessor 28 and may thereby receive incoming emergency alert signals.

At step 305, a determination is made as to whether the emergency alertfunction of television signal receiver 20 is activated. According to anexemplary embodiment, processor 28 makes this determination by comparingdata included in the incoming emergency alert signals to data stored inmemory 28. As previously indicated herein, the emergency alert signalsmay include data such as SAME data which represents informationincluding the type of emergency event (e.g., tornado watch, radiologicalhazard warning, civil emergency, etc.) and the specific geographicalarea(s) affected by the emergency event. According to an exemplaryembodiment, processor 28 compares this SAME data to corresponding usersetup data (i.e., items C and D of step 301) stored in memory 28 tothereby determine whether the emergency alert function is activated. Inthis manner, the emergency alert function of television signal receiver20 is activated when the emergency event indicated by the emergencyalert signals corresponds to: (1) the geographical area(s) selected bythe user for item C of step 301 and (2) the event type(s) selected bythe user for item D of step 301.

If the determination at step 305 is negative, process flow loops back tostep 302 where processor 28 determines whether television signalreceiver 20 is in the on mode. Alternatively, if the determination atstep 305 is positive, process flow advances to step 306 where televisionsignal receiver 20 provides one or more alert outputs to thereby notifyindividuals of the emergency event.

According to an exemplary embodiment, processor 28 enables the one ormore alert outputs at step 306 in accordance with the user's selectionsduring the setup process of step 301 (i.e., item E), and such alertoutputs may be aural and/or visual in nature. For example, aural outputssuch as a warning tone and/or an NWS audio message may be provided atstep 306 via speaker 30, and the volume of such aural outputs may becontrolled in accordance with the volume level set by the user duringthe setup process of step 301. Visual outputs may also be provided atstep 306 via display 32 to notify individuals of the emergency event.According to an exemplary embodiment, an auxiliary information displaysuch as an NWS text message (e.g., as a closed caption display) and/or avideo output from a specific channel may be provided at step 306 viadisplay 32 under the control of processor 28. When an alert outputresults from emergency alert signals received via the second channelwhen television signal receiver 20 is in the on mode, processor 28 mayenable a visual alert output (e.g., NWS text message, etc.) to beoverlaid upon a visual output on display 32 provided via the firstchannel. If digital transmission is employed, the data packets receivedvia the second channel may be inserted into the data stream from thefirst channel. This allows alert information (e.g., audio, video, text,etc.) from the second channel to simply replace information from thefirst channel. In this manner, normal programming provided via the firstchannel may be interrupted or augmented to provide the alert output andthereby ensure that users are notified of an emergency event.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the alert output(s) providedat step 306 may be based on the severity or alert level of theparticular emergency event. For example, emergency events may beclassified in one of three different alert level categories, such asstatement, watch, and warning. With such a classification scheme, thealert output for an emergency event at a level 1 or statement level maybe provided by an unobtrusive notification means such as a blinkinglight emitting diode (LED) since it is the least severe type ofemergency event. The alert output for an emergency event at a level 2 orwatch level may have some type of audio component (e.g., radio message).The alert output for an emergency event at a level 3 or warning levelmay be provided by a siren or other type of alarm since it is the mostsevere type of emergency event. Other types of aural and/or visual alertoutputs than those expressly described herein may also be provided atstep 306 according to the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a block diagram of a modem apparatus 40according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown.Modem apparatus 40 may for example be embodied as a cable modem and/or aDSL modem. According to an exemplary embodiment, modem apparatus 40includes an emergency alert function which enables it to receiveemergency alert signals and provide one or more alert outputs to notifyindividuals of an emergency event. According to this exemplaryembodiment, modem apparatus 40 is a stand-alone device which may beoperatively coupled to one or more external devices such as televisionsignal receiver 20 and/or a computer which may each provide an emergencyalert function. Accordingly, the emergency alert function of modemapparatus 40 may be separate and independent from the emergency alertfunctions of such other devices. In this manner, modem apparatus 40 mayserve as the primary alerting device when such external devices areturned off. Moreover, the emergency alert function of modem apparatus 40may be used in combination with the emergency alert functions of otherdevices such that modem apparatus 40 and the other devices each provideone or more alert outputs responsive to emergency alert signals, andthereby increase the likelihood that individuals are notified ofemergency events. FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram of modem apparatus 40according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

According to another exemplary embodiment, modem apparatus 40 may becombined with another device such that it is internal to the otherdevice. For example, modem apparatus 40 may be included as internalcircuitry within the chassis of television signal receiver 20, andthereby serve as a separate and independent monitoring device foremergency alert signals, either in substitution of, or in addition to,tuner 25.

In FIG. 4, modem apparatus 40 comprises signal diplexer means such asdiplexer 41, tuning means such as tuner 42, demodulation means such asdemodulator 43, modulation means such as modulator 44, decoding meanssuch as decoder 45, processing means and memory means such as processorand memory 46, alert means such as alert system 47, control means suchas controller 48. Some of the foregoing elements may for example beembodied using ICs. For clarity of description, certain conventionalelements of modem apparatus 40 including control signals may not beshown in FIG. 4.

Diplexer 41 is operative to enable bi-directional transmission ofsignals between modem apparatus 40 and a network, such as a cable,satellite, fiber optic, DSL, terrestrial or other type of wired and/orwireless network. The signals received by modem apparatus 40 from thenetwork may be referred to herein as downstream signals, and the signalstransmitted to the network from modem apparatus 40 may be referred toherein as upstream signals. The downstream signals received by modemapparatus 40 may include emergency alert signals capable of activatingthe emergency alert function of cable modem 40 and/or another externaldevice such as television signal receiver 20.

Tuner 42 is operative to tune the downstream signals received from thenetwork via diplexer 41. Demodulator 43 is operative to demodulate thedownstream signals provided from tuner 42. According to an exemplaryembodiment, tuner 42 and demodulator 43 are operative to provide atleast the same functionality as tuner 25 and demodulator 26 oftelevision signal receiver 20, respectively, as previously describedherein. Modulator 44 is operative to modulate the upstream signalsprovided to the network.

Decoder 45 is operative to provide at least the same functionality asdecoder 27 of television signal receiver 20, as previously describedherein. Accordingly, decoder 45 is operative to decode downstreamsignals that may include emergency alert signals. Such emergency alertsignals may for example be represented as packets of digital data, ormay be analog signals including digitally encoded signals. As indicatedin FIG. 4, decoder 45 may be operatively coupled to processor 28 oftelevision signal receiver 20 when modem apparatus 40 is combined withtelevision signal receiver 20. If modem apparatus 40 is included asinternal circuitry within television signal receiver 20, elements ofFIG. 4 which are downstream of decoder 45, namely processor and memory46, alert system 47, and controller 48, may be redundant.

Processor and memory 46 are operative to provide at least the samefunctionality as processor and memory 28 of television signal receiver20, as previously described herein. Accordingly, processor and memory 46may be programmed through a setup process such as the one described instep 301 of FIG. 3 to thereby establish user settings for the emergencyalert function of modem apparatus 40. As previously indicated herein,the emergency alert function of modem apparatus 40 may be separate andindependent from the emergency alert functions of connected devices suchas television signal receiver 20. According to an exemplary embodiment,processor and memory 46 may be programmed via input means of modemapparatus 40 (not shown), from an external device (e.g., televisionsignal receiver 20, computer, etc.), or via data provided from thenetwork. Once programmed, processor 46 may compare data in receivedemergency alert signals to user setup data stored in memory 46 todetermine whether the emergency alert function of modem apparatus 40 isactivated. When the emergency alert function of modem apparatus 40and/or another device is activated, processor 46 outputs one or morecontrol signals which enable one or more alert outputs (e.g., auraland/or visual) to thereby notify individuals of the emergency event.

Alert system 47 is operative to provide one or more alert outputs underthe control of processor 46 when the emergency alert function of modemapparatus 40 and/or another device is activated. According to anexemplary embodiment, alert system 47 includes visual and/or auraloutput means, such as visual output element 47 a and aural outputelement 47 b shown in FIG. 5. Visual output element 47 a may for examplebe embodied as an LED and/or other type of visual indicator element.Aural output element 47 b may for example be embodied as a speakerand/or other type of aural output element. Controller 48 is operative tocontrol the transmission of signals to and from an external device, suchas a computer. According to an exemplary embodiment, controller 48 maybe embodied as an Ethernet or other type of controller. Accordingly,controller 48 may provide alert information to an external device (e.g.,computer), or may provide direct inputs to audio and video processingcircuitry of a device if modem apparatus 40 has been integrated into thedevice.

As described herein, the present invention provides techniques forreceiving emergency alert signals using an apparatus such as atelevision signal receiver and/or modem. The present invention may beapplicable to various apparatuses, either with or without a displaydevice. Accordingly, the phrase “television signal receiver” as usedherein may refer to systems or apparatuses capable of receiving andprocessing television signals including, but not limited to, televisionsets, or monitors that include a display device, and systems orapparatuses such as set-top boxes, video cassette recorders (VCRs),digital versatile disk (DVD) players, video game boxes, personal videorecorders (PVRs), or other apparatuses that may not include a displaydevice.

While this invention has been described as having a preferred design,the present invention can be further modified within the spirit andscope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended tocover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using itsgeneral principles. Further, this application is intended to cover suchdepartures from the present disclosure as come within known or customarypractice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fallwithin the limits of the appended claims.

1. A television signal receiver having an emergency alert function, comprising: first tuning means for tuning first signals including video signals when said television signal receiver is in an on mode; second tuning means for tuning second signals including emergency alert signals when said television signal receiver is in one of said on mode and an off/standby mode; and wherein said emergency alert function is activated if said emergency alert signals indicate an emergency event corresponding to a user selected geographical area and a user selected event type.
 2. The television signal receiver of claim 1, wherein said second tuning means is included in a modem apparatus.
 3. The television signal receiver of claim 2, wherein said modem apparatus is internal to said television signal receiver.
 4. The television signal receiver of claim 2, wherein said modem apparatus is external to said television signal receiver.
 5. The television signal receiver of claim 4, wherein said modem apparatus includes alert means for providing an alert output when said emergency alert function is activated.
 6. The television signal receiver of claim 5, wherein said alert means includes a visual output element.
 7. The television signal receiver of claim 5, wherein said alert means includes an aural output element.
 8. A method for controlling a television signal receiver having an emergency alert function, comprising: enabling a first tuner to tune first signals including video signals when said television signal receiver is in an on mode; enabling a second tuner to tune second signals including emergency alert signals when said television signal receiver is in one of said on mode and an off/standby mode; and wherein said emergency alert function is activated if said emergency alert signals indicate an emergency event corresponding to a user selected geographical area and a user selected event type.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said second tuner is included in a modem apparatus.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said modem apparatus is internal to said television signal receiver.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein said modem apparatus is external to said television signal receiver.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprised of providing an alert output via an alert system of said modem apparatus when said emergency alert function is activated.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein said alert output includes a visual output.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein said alert output includes an aural output. 